Everyday Sourdough

Everyday sourdough is a simple, homemade bread made with a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast. It is perfect for beginners and busy bakers because it uses basic ingredients and an easy process. With a crisp crust, soft interior, and rich flavor, it is a great bread to make regularly for sandwiches, toast, or serving with meals.

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Ingredients

Everyday Sourdough - Ingredients

240 g active starter
425 g water
600 g flour
2 tsp salt

Instructions

Mix

Pour the starter and water into your mixing bowl, and mix to dissolve the starter into the water. Add flour and mix until a shaggy and rough ball is formed. If it is too thick to be spooned out, use hands or a dough scraper. This is a very sticky dough.

Autolyse — 30 minutes

Cover and let the bowl rest for 30 minutes.
The flour will absorb all the water, the gluten will come together naturally, and when you return, the dough will already be smoother and more manageable. It does it for you, so you don't have to.

Salt + Knead

Add your salt and begin to knead until your dough becomes cohesive and a bit springy. The dough will firm up from the salt but it should still be slightly tacky.

Bulk Fermentation — 6 to 12 hours

Shape loosely into a ball, cover the bowl and allow it to rise until it doubles.
6-12 hours is a big range. However, the cooking time is influenced by other factors, such as the temperature of your kitchen, the strength of your starter, and the air's humidity. Pay attention to the dough, not the clock; experiment and find out what works for your starter and kitchen. If it seems noticeably larger and appears airy and alive, it's ready.
It's also where all the flavor occurs. Don't rush it.

Shape

Turn dough onto a floured surface and allow to rest 20 minutes uncovered. This helps to soften the gluten to shape easily.
Rest: Stretch the dough out into a rectangle and fold the dough into thirds. Fold it into a compact ball by tucking in the edges towards the middle and tuck the bottom seam together.

Final Proof — 1.5 to 4 hours

Cover and allow to rise until puffy and close to double the original amount. Same rules as before: observe, become familiar with surroundings. Use a proofing basket, if you have one. Otherwise a greased bowl works fine.

Preheat

About 1/2 hour before the dough is ready to bake, heat the Dutch oven to 500°F. The Dutch oven must be placed in the oven cold, and the oven with the lid on will preheat throughout the cooking process. It is this that forms the steam that gives sourdough its characteristic crust and oven spring. Don't skip this.

Bake

Place the boule dough on parchment or silicone bread baking mat. Score the top of your loaf, one bold cut down the center, or be fancy if you want
Remove the dutch oven using oven mitts
Use the handles of the bread mat or sides of the parchment paper to lift and place boule dough in Dutch oven
Cover; bake at 500° F for 25 minutes
Turn the oven to 400°F, open the lid, turn the pot around and bake for 12-15 minutes more.
You want deep gold brown rather than light or pale.

Cool

Remove and place on a wire rack.
Now wait. At least 20 minutes. Ideally two hours. The loaf is still baking on the inside while cooling down and if you slice it too early, even if the outside looks good the inside will remain gummy.